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SEMARANG, Central Java: From dozens of metres away, Pippo Agosto was able to spot something unusual about the footpaths and houses of Bergota, a steep hill at the heart of Semarang city where centuries-old graves sit side-by-side with modern-day dwellings.

The walkways in Bergota were mostly paved with asphalt, concrete and bricks but there were sections where they consisted of steps carved out of massive stone slabs covered in dirt and mould.

“You can tell from the shapes of these stones that they were old Chinese graves,” Pippo told �鶹��ý, his index finger following the semi-circular outline of a stone that was at least 6m in diameter.

The right wing of the horseshoe-shaped stone, meant to protect a grave from strong winds, had been carved into stairs. The rest of the grave now served as the foundation of a squatter home.

Another tombstone on the hill was covered in vegetation and rubbish, as well as by concrete columns supporting the home. Its Chinese characters etched in the limestone were too faint to make out after years of exposure to rain and tap water dripping from the house.

Pippo, a 50-year-old private tutor, is an amateur historian and grave hunter who has been uncovering Chinese burial sites in Semarang and documenting them for over four years.

The capital of Central Java, Semarang is one of the island’s most important trading hubs and traces the origins of its Chinese community to the 15th century with the arrival of Chinese admiral Zheng He.��

According to historians, Semarang was home to a large Chinese community by around 1900 and its most prominent member in the early 20th century was businessman Oei Tiong Ham, the “Sugar King of Java” who later settled in Singapore.

GRAVE HUNTER BY ACCIDENT

Although he never studied the subject formally, Pippo, who has a degree in biology, has always been keen on the city’s history.

He often documented his journey on Facebook, sharing his frequent visits to ruins of ancient Javanese temples and palaces, Dutch colonial buildings and other historical sites.

His fascination with Chinese graves began one December evening in 2020.

“A friend of mine messaged me saying that he had stumbled upon a Chinese tombstone as he was delivering pizza to a customer," Pippo said.

"Someone had used the tombstone as a base for his flower pots. So he sent me pictures in the hope that I knew someone who could read what the tombstone says.”

At the time, Pippo, who is not Chinese, was not proficient in the language, particularly with its characters before the Chinese writing system was standardised.

He consulted various Chinese historians and community leaders, who were able to determine from the inscriptions that it belonged to a man named Wu Yen Kuan, who hailed from the Siyi region of China’s Guangdong province.

The tombstone is believed to have been engraved and installed during the reign of Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi in the year of the metal snake, or around 1701.��

Professional historians later confirmed that it was the oldest Chinese tombstone ever discovered in Semarang, Pippo said.

WHY MANY INDONESIAN CHINESE “DON’T KNOW WHERE FAMILY IS FROM”

“Semarang is rich in history. Unfortunately, the history of its Chinese community is not well-studied … there has not been much attention given to these graves,” said Pippo.

Much of this history was lost in the mid-1960s, when anti-communist – and by extension, anti-Chinese – sentiments swept across the country.

In response to these sentiments, then-president Suharto, who ruled the country with an iron fist for the next three decades, ordered a ban on Chinese literature, culture and characters and forced the country’s Chinese population to adopt Indonesian-sounding names.��

“A lot of Chinese people, particularly in my generation, no longer know what their Chinese surnames are. They don’t speak a word of Chinese,” said Bram Luska, 38, Pippo’s friend and the pizzeria owner who stumbled on Semarang’s oldest tombstone.

“They don’t know where their family is from or when their ancestors first came to Indonesia,” said Bram, who knows little about his ancestors other than that their surname was either Ng or Huang.

“That is unfortunate. Because this is our history, heritage and identity,” he said.

The disconnect between today’s generation and their heritage is one reason why ancient Chinese graves are neglected and forgotten by their living descendants, said Bambang Wuragil, head of the Semarang chapter of the Indonesian Chinese Clan Social Association (PSMTI).

“People no longer bother to know who their great grandparents are. So they feel that (these graves) don’t belong to them or at least don’t pay enough attention to them,” Bambang said.

“At the same time, the government needed land for public housing so the graves are emptied and the bodies are cremated.”

Because items related to death are considered unlucky in Chinese tradition, tombstones are often discarded once the body is exhumed.

This is one reason, Bambang said, why some tombstones end up in the possession of others and are being used as drain covers or construction materials.

“We are very concerned because etched in the tombstones are names of someone’s ancestors,” he said. “If they are used as table tops maybe we can tolerate (that), but drain covers which people step on?”

Which is why Bambang supports efforts to find and document abandoned Chinese graves and tombstones. The PSMTI has helped with the salvaging and restoration of dozens of tombstones, including Semarang’s oldest.

For now, these tombstones are stored in multiple locations including a Chinese temple, a private cemetery and Bambang’s own property. Bambang hopes that one day the PSMTI could build a dedicated museum for these tombstones.

“That way they are accessible to the deceased’s descendants, the general public and anyone looking to study these tombstones,” he said.

COLLECTING PIECES OF A PUZZLE

Pippo’s grave hunting interest has rubbed off on Bram.��

The duo have met every week for the past four years to consult old maps and historical records before combing through places where Chinese people like to bury the dead: Hills with a view of large bodies of water, of which there are many in Semarang.

“We can provide historians with data from the ground. We collect pieces of the puzzle for them to put together into a bigger picture. That to me is very exciting and important,” said Bram, a fourth-generation Chinese Indonesian.

After objections from his parents and relatives who view grave hunting as inauspicious, Bram is now playing the role of desk researcher, leaving the fieldwork to Pippo.

He also acts as an impromptu community engagement officer, sharing Pippo’s findings with his Chinese Indonesian friends in hopes of finding living relatives who can shed more light on the deceased.��

“We once found the grave of a Chinese lieutenant with the surname Gui, and a friend from high school who now lives in Denmark reached out to me asking whether she might be related (to him),” Bram said.

A lieutenant during the Dutch colonial period was a government-appointed official in charge of security, law and order within a city’s Chinese community.

“After we did more research, it turned out that my friend, who I never knew is a Gui, is related to the lieutenant. She then thanked us for finding his grave.”

He and Pippo have received countless requests from people looking for their missing ancestors, and have reconnected dozens of people with their long-lost ancestors and helped them learn more about their families’ history.

“There was a woman who now lives in China. She had an old photo of her ancestor’s grave and wondered if the grave was still there. We spent about a week searching but we eventually found it,” said Bram.

“We also like to talk to gravediggers and locals,” Pippo added.

“They’re the reason why we were able to find graves in obscure and difficult-to-find places or those which have been turned into dumpsites or the foundations of people’s homes.”

PLANS FOR A BOOK ONE DAY

Pippo’s quest has taken him to the far corners of Semarang, a 373 sq km city on Java’s northern coast.

He has trekked up and down hilly cemeteries and bashed his way through thick bushes and bamboo forests.

Because some cemeteries have been encroached on by urban development, Pippo often finds himself inside people’s homes and public buildings in search of traces of Chinese graves.

If luck is on his side, he might stumble upon centuries-old tombstones that reveal a trove of information ranging from the name of the deceased and the person's then-surviving family members, to his or her social rank and status as well as where in mainland China the family was originally from.

Over the years, Pippo has found the graves of noblemen and community leaders as well as prominent businessmen and philanthropists.��

Among them is Chen Bi Cheng who, according to his tombstone, was bestowed the title of Grand Master Exemplar, one of the highest ranks in China’s Qing dynasty.��

Pippo also found the largest Chinese tomb ever discovered in Semarang, with a diameter of around 7m. The only inscription he was able to make out suggests it belonged to a woman surnamed Thio.

Occasionally, Pippo and Bram receive requests to look for graves that lie outside Semarang, and Pippo has travelled as far as Yogyakarta, around a three-hour drive away.

He has also since learned to read old Chinese characters, and the Chinese community and historians from other cities often send him photos of tombstones that they discovered, hoping he can tell them what the engravings say.

“I hope ... there will be other grave finders in other cities. Because I have been receiving requests from outside of Semarang asking me to research (graves there),” Pippo said.

“I’m from Semarang, so I only know the history of Semarang. It would be better if every city has someone willing to research their own city’s history.”

Pippo said he plans on writing a book one day about the more than 100 graves that he has found in Semarang.

“That way, future generations can use it as a reference and help them know better their family’s history, where their ancestors are from and what role they played in Semarang’s history,” he said.